ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Sunday, January 2, 2011
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Neandertals’ extinction not caused by deficient diets, tooth analysis shows (January 1, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered evidence to debunk the theory that Neandertals' disappearance was caused in part by a deficient diet -- one that lacked variety and was overly reliant on meat. After discovering starch granules from plant food trapped in the dental calculus on 40-thousand-year-old Neandertal teeth, the scientists believe that Neandertals ate a wide variety of plants and included cooked grains as part of a more sophisticated, diverse diet similar to early modern humans. ... > full story
Budding research links climate change and earlier flowering plants (January 1, 2011) -- New research shows that global warming may be impacting the blooming cycle of plants. ... > full story
Cloud atlas: Scientist maps the meaning of mid-level clouds (January 1, 2011) -- Clouds play a major role in the climate-change equation, but they are the least-understood variable in the sky, observes a geoscientist, who says mid-level clouds are especially understudied. ... > full story
What triggers mass extinctions? Study shows how invasive species stop new life (December 31, 2010) -- An influx of invasive species can stop the dominant natural process of new species formation and trigger mass extinction events, according to new research. The study of the collapse of Earth's marine life 378 to 375 million years ago suggests that the planet's current ecosystems, which are struggling with biodiversity loss, could meet a similar fate. ... > full story
Was Israel the birthplace of modern humans? (December 31, 2010) -- Archaeologists have discovered evidence that places Homo sapiens in Israel as early as 400,000 years ago -- the earliest evidence for the existence of modern humans anywhere in the world. ... > full story
New technology to speed cleanup of nuclear contaminated sites (December 31, 2010) -- Engineers have invented a new type of radiation detection and measurement device that will be particularly useful for cleanup of sites with radioactive contamination, making the process faster, more accurate and less expensive. ... > full story
Key role for a protein in cell division described (December 31, 2010) -- Just before a cell divides into two -- the basic act of reproducing life -- the cellular environment must be exquisitely prepared. The exact timing and localization of the vast array of molecules and processes involved in duplicating chromosomes and separating the offspring from the parent is one of the basic wonders of biology and is at the core of both healthy living and diseases such as cancer, which arise when the process goes awry. Now scientists have detailed the role of one protein, PRC1, that acts in the penultimate stage of cell division, helping to form the architectural structures, called central spindles, needed before the cell splits in two. ... > full story
System for detecting noise pollution in the sea and its impact on cetaceans (December 31, 2010) -- Researchers have developed the first system equipped with hydrophones able to record sounds on the seafloor in real time over the Internet. The system detects the presence of cetaceans and makes it possible to analyze how noise caused by human activity can affect the natural habitat of these animals and the natural balance of oceans. A new EU directive on the sea has ruled that all member states must comply with a set of indicators for measuring marine noise pollution before 2012. ... > full story
When their tools get dull, leaf-cutters switch jobs (December 31, 2010) -- When their razor-sharp mandibles wear out, leaf-cutter ants change jobs, remaining productive while letting their more efficient sisters take over cutting, say researchers. Their study provides a glimpse of nature's way of providing for its displaced workers. ... > full story
Study classifies and uses artificial proteins to analyze protein-protein interfaces (December 31, 2010) -- A new study suggests that there may be roughly a thousand structurally distinct protein-protein interfaces -- and that their structures depend largely on the simple physics of the proteins. ... > full story
Evolutionary arms race between smut fungi and maize plants (December 31, 2010) -- Fungi are a major cause of plant diseases and are responsible for large-scale harvest failure in crops like maize and other cereals all over the world. Scientists have now analyzed the genetic make-up of Sporisorium reilianum, an important maize parasite. ... > full story
Crops: Improving nitrogen use efficiency lessens environmental impact (December 31, 2010) -- Most agricultural crops require large quantities of nitrate-rich fertilizer to realize optimal yields. Increased interest in environmentally beneficial "low-input" approaches is challenging researchers to identify genotypes that have a characteristic called "high nutrient use efficiency", or NUE. Using vegetable types with high NUE could help growers lessen environmental impacts while maintaining high crop yields. A new study reported on improved NUE traits that resulted from grafting melon plants onto commercial rootstocks. ... > full story
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